Digging Deeper
by Touch of Grey
Summary: Set during Blackest Night. Fighting zombies was never in Tim's job description, this looks like for of a job for...


It was sometime between having to re-kill his zombified father and coming face to face with his once dead, then alive, and now dead again best friend that Tim Drake began to realize that his life was extremely fucked up.

It wasn't right. It wasn't _fair_. Ten to one, Captain Marvel Jr. never had to deal with this bullshit.

Even the way it had all gone down was just plain…disturbing.

Tim had been returning to the cave after a long night of zombie fighting, and since when had that become a part of his job description, anyway? He wasn't a metahuman, he was a vigilante. He beat up purse snatchers and drug dealers, not the undead. Something like that was a job for…

"Hey there, Tim."

Superboy.

His spirits had lifted almost immediately. There was just something about being in Kon's presence, like stepping directly into the path of a sunbeam.

And then he'd seen his face.

No, it wasn't even his face. It was his eyes. The hollow, glassy, unnaturally black irises shone horrifically out of Kon's milk white face. And then, that…_thing_ that wore his best friend's skin grinned at him.

"Fear? And a touch of rage? Aww, where'd all that hope and compassion go, Tim? Those two would have made you _delicious_."

Anger coursed through him again, but he repressed it. Masking emotion was the only way to fight these things. "You're _not_ Kon-El." The Black Lantern grinned at him again, steadily walking towards him.

"Of course I am, Tim. If I wasn't, how else would I know how to find you? Or what your name is? Or that you like grape Zesti better than grape cola because Zesti doesn't use corn syrup?" It tilted its head. "What, you didn't think it would be forever, right? You, me, and Bart, all together again? A Young Justice reunion!" It laughed, a sound like bones rattling, and Tim shivered. "Oh, come on, Tim! Live a little! Show me some fear. I scare you, don't I? Or maybe rage. Aren't you _angry_ that I'm dead again? After you spent so much time and effort trying to bring me back? C'mon, give me _something_ to work with."

As he popped the extend on his staff, Tim ground the heel of his hand into his forehead. 'Stay focused. That thing is _not_ your best friend. It's an imitation, like Match.' The thing grinned its horrible grin again, getting closer.

"I can prove it's me, Tim. Remember when you were in France? And I told you to lose the cowl? I meant it. I mean really, after me, you're the best looking guy on the team. A cowl just doesn't do you justice. The domino mask was way cuter on you." Tim's cheeks heated up. "Oh, _now_ we're getting somewhere! You won't let it show, but I can tell how you feel. Remember, Tim, you've been my best friend since before I had a name. Since before I was allowed to call you anything but 'Alvin Draper'. You spent a year trying to clone me, Tim. Why me? Why not Steph, or Darla, or even your dad? You had every chance to just make friends with the new Titans, but you preferred to spend your off-hours in a dark cave laboratory playing Frankenstein. I never did hear your reasoning behind that, oh dearest pal of mine."

It was sound reasoning, at the time. If you were crazy. He missed his best friend too much to let him go. They hadn't grown up together, but that had grown into heroes side by side. He had been there for Kon through thick and thin, had helped him face things like life without the support of Cadmus, the death of Tana Moon, finding out he was half Luthor…and Kon had stuck by him as he systematically ruined every non-cape relationship in his life, he'd been a shoulder to lean on when his father had been murdered, when he'd had to bury Steph…Kon was his best friend. His brother.

_Love_.

"See? Now was that so hard?"

Kon was on him in a flash, his dead, putrid breath heavy next to Tim's ear.

"No-!"

"_Yes_."

An intense pain in his chest as Kon ripped through layers of Kevlar and into bare skin. The world darkened.

And then the spectrum became bright as day.

_Tim Drake of Earth, Rise_

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Tim flexed his hands several times, then tore off his cowl. A bit of skin and hair went with it, but they regenerated almost immediately. "That thing is ridiculously confining."

"And it just looks ridiculous." Tim rolled his eyes.

"You can stop trying to get a rise out of me now, Kon. There's nothing left to take."

"Doesn't mean I can't pick on you for fun." Kon bumped his shoulder into Tim's, grinning. Deeply set, black-ringed irises glared at him, and then Tim grinned back.

"What do you say we go get Bart and then pay Cassie a visit? She always _did_ hate to be left out of things…"

Fini

Okay, so it's kind of disturbing and _really_ out there when it comes to the boys, but so what? I'm currently digging the Blackest Night storyline, and it's a bit of an interesting take on Kon/Tim, though you could blink and miss it, here. Oh well, if you've made it to this point, chances are you liked the story. How about going the little extra mile and posting a review? Thanks!


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